Quantum Criticality

Research Initiatives

Scientists use our magnets to explore semiconductors, superconductors, newly-grown crystals, buckyballs and materials from the natural world — research that reveals the secret workings of materials and empowers us to develop new technologies.

Scientists here are working to optimize petroleum refining, advance potential bio-fuels such as pine needles and algae, and fundamentally change the way we store and deliver energy by developing better batteries.

With the world’s strongest MRI magnet, scientists here study everything from living animals to individual cells, from proteins to disease-fighting molecules found in plants and animals — work that could improve treatment of AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

Latest Science Highlights

A team of researchers from Université de Sherbrooke, Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (LNCMI), University of British Columbia, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory discovered a previously unobserved portion of the Fermi surface in underdoped YBCO. This discovery provides further evidence to support the picture of the Fermi surface being reconstructed as a result of charge density wave order developing in underdoped YBCO prior to the material entering the superconducting state at lower temperatures.

CrgA, a key Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell division protein that recruits five other proteins to the cell division apparatus has been structurally characterized using oriented sample and magic angle spinning solid state NMR. The protein has two transmembrane helices and an intrinsically disordered N-terminus. Binding sites have been identified for it's binding partners. Evaluating these binding sites may lead to effective drugs for either promoting and inhibiting cell division, both of which are of prime interest for the treatment of tuberculosis.

User Facilities

About the Lab

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is the largest and highest powered magnet lab in the world. With facilities at Florida State University, the University of Florida and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the MagLab offers scientists from across the globe free access to unique instruments and expertise, advancing basic science, engineering and technology in the 21st century.